Malachi

I get that opener isn't all that excited about the heart fit, but responder needs to know about the heart fit in order to evaluate his hand. Otherwise he passes or bids for the wrong reasons. Is responder really going to "check back" with any imbalanced hand, no matter how few high cards, when opener's 2N bid indicates that responder's shortness will have negative value? Also, a lot is being made of staying out of 4H with 8 and 9 card fits. I know that this can be correct, but don't we also know that this is unusual? Besides, opener's 3H rebid does not go beyond 3N. It is within responder's power, with notrump distribution, to suggest 3N.

Of course you can consider bidding 1c 1h 3h with AQx QJxx x Axxxx and it will work some of the time, but when your partner bids 4h with xxx Kxxxx x QTxx and you go down, it's because opener's hand is weak, not responder's. Also note that 4H is not hopeless despite the duplication in diamonds, and it's because of responder's excellent hand with 5 trumps and the double-fit, which only responder knows about. It's not necessarily a contradiction to bid 3H with both AQJ QJxx AJx KJx (18pts) and AQx QJxx x Axxxx (16pts) but if I have to eliminate one hand to make the range tighter, it's going to be the second one, not the first. You want to play your invitations so that it's correct to accept them most of the time.

Of course you have no distribution for H, but partner's hand will on average contain a substantial amount of useful distribution, whether or not he can bid over 2N. Give him S xxx H Kxxxx D x C Qxxx And he passes 2N when 4H is cold. I choose 3H, expecting partner to accept on this hand and on most hands where 4H has good play. We always reach H and stay out of all bad games.

If I'm planning on running away after the first bad result, I guess 1H kind of makes sense, but opening 9HCP with an intermediate partner is not going to be good for the partnership. Besides, light openings are supposed to be able to pass any response, and this does not qualify. 1H is a semi-psyche.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I was sure I had bid normally, but my partner was sure I had bid terribly, so I wanted a reality check.

S AKJxxx H Ax D Axxx C x IMP pairs A nice hand, partner deals and passes, RHO 1D I double, LHO 1H, partner passes, RHO rebids 2D, I bid 2S, which is passed out. Upon seeing declarer's hand, my "expert" partner leaves without a word. Dummy comes down with: S Qxx H Kxxx D xx C Jxxx Making 5, of course. With my partner passing, LHO still unlimited, and the opponents not finding a fit, I think I'm promising a very strong hand (about 18-21 points) needing only a few cards from partner to make a game. Does my partner have any reason to be upset?